The Free State Foundation is a non-profit, nonpartisan think tank. Its purpose is to promote, through research and educational activities, understanding of free market, limited government, and rule of law principles at the federal level and in Maryland.

FSF focuses on eliminating unnecessary and counterproductive regulatory mandates, especially those applicable to the communications and other high-tech industries, and on reducing overly burdensome taxes, protecting individual and economic liberty, including property rights, and making government more effective, efficient, and accountable.

Who We Are

Led by Randolph J. May, FSF's President, the scholars of The Free State Foundation have decades of experience in the public policy arena and academic settings promoting free markets, secure property rights, and individual liberty. Mr. May is a nationally known legal and policy expert in the field of regulation, as well as a widely recognized expert in communications, administrative, and constitutional law. FSF's scholars combine solid academic expertise with professional and practical experience in a way that makes their research especially impactful in influencing both federal and state public policy.

View a slideshow of Free State Foundation's Ninth Annual Telecom Policy Conference – "A New Direction for Communications Policy: Less Regulation, More Investment and Innovation" – held May 31, 2017, at the National Press Club.

The program brochure, with the agenda and the speaker bios, for FSF's Ninth Annual Telecom Policy Conference on May 31, 2017, is here.

The Free State Foundation has rescheduled its Ninth Annual Telecom Policy Conference on Wednesday, May 31, 2017, at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. Ajit Pai, Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, will join FSF President Randolph May in the traditional lunchtime conversation. Other speakers include Meredith Baker, President and CEO, CTIA; David Cohen, Senior Executive Vice President, Comcast Corporation; Seth Cooper, Senior Fellow, Free State Foundation; Michelle Connolly, Professor of the Practice of Economics, Duke University, and Member of FSF's Board of Academic Advisors;C. Boyden Gray, Founding Partner, Boyden Gray & Associates, and former U.S. Ambassador to the European Union and former White House Counsel; Kim Keenan, President and CEO, MMTC;Blair Levin, Nonresident Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution; Tad Lipsky, Acting Director, Bureau of Competition, FTC; Daniel Lyons, Boston College Law School, and Member of FSF's Board of Academic Advisors; Tom Pahl, Acting Director, Bureau of Consumer Protection, FTC; Robert Quinn, Senior Executive Vice President, External and Legislative Affairs, AT&T; and Howard Shelanski, Professor of Law, Georgetown University, and former Administrator, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) within the Office of Management and Budget. With a newly reconstituted FCC and a new Congress in place, this year's agenda-setting annual conference surely will be one of the most important ever. An event flyer is here. The conference agenda is here and the conference brochure with speaker bios is here. Register here!

Free State Foundation President Randolph May will participate in a Lifeline Update briefing of MMTC’s Digital Equity Roundtable, New Telecom and Internet Policy Task Force, and “Best Minds” Policy Committee on March 21, 2017. Government, nonprofit, consumer advocates, and Lifeline broadband providers will discuss where things stand on the modernization of Lifeline and the future of the program.

Free State Foundation President Randolph May announced today that Theodore Bolema is joining FSF on a full-time basis as a Senior Fellow, effective March 13. The complete press release is here.

View a slideshow of the Free State Foundation's Tenth Anniversary Gala Luncheon held December 7, 2016, at the National Press Club in Washington, DC.

Image:

A PDF of FCC Chairman Ajit Pai’s Address at the Free State Foundation’s Tenth Anniversary Gala Luncheon on December 7, 2016, at the National Press Club, Washington, DC, is here.

Videos are available of the Free State Foundation’s Tenth Anniversary Gala Luncheon, held at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, on December 7, 2016. The “Segment 1” video includes a Welcome by FSF President Randolph May, and an address by Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn, Vice Chair, House Energy and Commerce Committee, Republican Deputy Whip, and Trump Transition Team Executive Committee Member.

“Segment 2” of FSF’s Tenth Anniversary Gala Luncheon video includes remarks by FCC Commissioners Ajit Pai and Michael O'Rielly; Karyn Temple Claggett, Acting Register of Copyrights and Director of U.S. Copyright Office; and Professor Daniel Lyons, Boston College Law School, and member of FSF's Board of Academic Advisors.

Speakers have been announced for FSF’s celebration of its Tenth Anniversary of its founding at the gala celebratory lunch on Wednesday, December 7, 2016, at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. Speakers include Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn, Vice Chair, House Energy and Commerce Committee, and Republican Deputy Whip; Ajit Pai, FCC Commissioner; Michael O'Rielly, FCC Commissioner; Karyn Temple Claggett, Acting Register of Copyrights and Director of U.S. Copyright Office; and Daniel Lyons, Professor,Boston College Law School, and member of FSF's Board of Academic Advisors. We will reflect on the direction of law and policy over the Free State Foundation's first ten years - including this important anniversary year - while looking at the challenges ahead. A flyer with event details is here. Register here!Free State Foundation President Randolph May is the featured speaker at Emory University School of Law discussing the book coauthored by Mr. May and FSF Senior Fellow Seth Cooper, The Constitutional Foundations of Intellectual Property – A Natural Rights Perspective on November 2, 2016, in Atlanta, Georgia.

Free State Foundation President Randolph May will participate on the “Internet Privacy – The Rules of Engagement?” panel at the upcoming National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners’ 2016 Summer Committee Meetings on July 23 in Nashville, TN. As part of reclassifying basic Internet access service (BIAS) as a telecommunications service, the FCC issued a notice of proposed rulemaking on April 1, 2016, proposing detailed data privacy and security rules for BIAS providers. The panelists will address the issue of privacy when it comes to BIAS and identify issues of concern.

Free State Foundation President Randolph May and Senior Fellow Seth Cooper submitted reply comments on May 23, 2016, in the Federal Communications Commission's set-top box rulemaking proceeding. The comments explain why the FCC should reject unjustified calls for harmful, stringent regulation of video devices and apps.

Free State Foundation President Randolph May and Senior Fellow Seth Cooper submitted comments today to the Federal Communications Commission in response to the Commission's request for comments in its set-top box rulemaking proceeding. FSF stated its opposition to the FCC's backward-looking set-top box tech mandates, and that there is no market failure justifying the agency's costly proposal that jeopardizes intellectual property and privacy rights.

Free State Foundation President Randolph May testified April 20 at a hearing on "The Administrative State: An Examination of Federal Rulemaking" before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Mr. May critiqued four problematic aspects of the FCC's net neutrality rulemaking in his testimony.

View a slideshow of the Free State Foundation’s Eighth Annual Telecom Policy Conference – "The FCC and the Rule of Law" – held March 23, 2016, at the National Press Club.

Image:

On February 10, 2016, Free State Foundation President Randolph May participated in a forum on Intellectual Property and First Principles, presented by the Cato Institute's Center for Constitutional Studies and the Federalist Society for Law & Public Policy Studies. A video of the panel’s session is here. With FSF Senior Fellow Seth Cooper, Mr. May is the co-author of The Constitutional Foundations of Intellectual Property.Free State Foundation President Randolph May will participate on a panel on February 16, 2016, at the NARUC Winter Committee Meetings. The panel will address Lifeline issues, including the extent to which the program should be extended to broadband services. The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) is a non-profit organization dedicated to representing the state public service commissions who regulate the utilities that provide services such as energy, telecommunications, water, and transportation.

Free State Foundation President Randolph May will speak on February 10, 2016, at a forum on Intellectual Property and First Principles, presented by the Cato Institute's Center for Constitutional Studies and the Federalist Society for Law & Public Policy Studies. With FSF Senior Fellow Seth Cooper, Mr. May is the co-author of The Constitutional Foundations of Intellectual Property. The panel will debate various conservative and libertarian points of view regarding the nature of intellectual property and the extent to which it should be safeguarded.

FSF President Randolph May Speaks Out Against the FCC's New Public Utility Internet Regulations! Watch the Video!

* * *

Job Openings for Policy Analysts: The Free State Foundation has positions open for senior and junior policy analysts with experience regarding regulated industries. Some expertise and prior experience regarding communications and Internet policy is a definite plus, and the ability to analyze market structure and competition in dynamic markets characterized by rapid technological advances is a definite plus as well. Excellent writing skills an absolute prerequisite. Click here to view a full job description.

Senior Fellows

The Free State Foundation's Senior Fellows and Staff are acknowledged experts in their academic and professional fields, and their accomplishments have been widely recognized. They have held senior positions in academia, government, and business. Their expertise and experience on state and federal policy matters spans the disciplines of law, economics, business strategy, and organizational management.

Support the Free State Foundation

The Free State Foundation receives contributions to support its work from a wide variety of companies in the communications, information services, entertainment, and high-tech marketplaces, among others, as well as from foundations and many individuals. We welcome your donations too! Donate here!

Support the Free State Foundation's work by shopping at AmazonSmile!Click here to begin shopping at Amazon.

View the YouTube video of FSF’s October 26, 2015, event celebrating the publication of May and Cooper’s new book, The Constitutional Foundations of Intellectual Property: A Natural Rights Perspective, at the National Press Club.

View the YouTube video of FSF’s July 28, 2015, policy seminar, "Implementing Real Regulatory Reform at the FCC," at the National Press Club.

View the YouTube videos of the Opening Keynote Address and traditional lunchtime Conversation at FSF’s Seventh Annual Telecom Policy Conference, "The Future of the Internet: Free Market Innovation or Government Control?" on March 19, 2015, at the National Press Club.

View the YouTube videos of the three keynote presentations and the panel discussion at FSF’s "Thinking the Unthinkable: Imposing the 'Utility Model' on Internet Providers" seminar at the National Press Club on November 14, 2014.

View the YouTube videos of FSF's "A New FCC or the Same Old, Same Old?" lunch seminar at the National Press Club on October 24, 2013.

View the YouTube video of FSF’s "If I Were the FCC Chairman" lunch seminar held at the National Press Club on June 4, 2013.

View a slideshow here of the Free State Foundation’s Fifth Annual Telecom Policy Conference, "Completing The Transition to a Digital World: How to Finish the Job and Why It Matters," held at the National Association of Home Builders on March 21, 2013.

Order FSF's new book, "Communications Law and Policy in the Digital Age: The Next Five Years," here!

View the YouTube video of FSF's January 23, 2013, event celebrating FSF’s new book, "Communications Law and Policy in the Digital Age: The Next Five Years," at the National Press Club.

View YouTube videos of FSF's October 18, 2012, "Ideas for Communications Law and Policy Reform for 2013" Seminar at the National Press Club.